It’s rare that I ever put lemon in my tea, but when I think back to when I was a child, the iced tea that was made for me usually had lemon in it (or at least lemon flavoring).  As a kid, I remember running in the hot sun or riding my bicycle nearly all day long and not being able to wait to get to the refrigerator to take a big gulp out of the tea jug.  My friend’s mom used to make tea using Lipton’s tea bags, and she would let it sit in the sun for hours.  This method of tea brewing has been frowned upon for years due to all the nasty bacteria that can grow during the process.  I can remember being so thirsty that my friends and I would take long drinks and then pass the container around.  When you’re a kid, there are too many other things important in your life to be a germaphobe.

Anyway, that memory of my younger days running all over the countryside and craving iced tea with a light lemon zest is what this PureLeaf variety reminds me of.  It might have a bit too much lemon for me nowadays.  I’m sure for a lot of you it will be perfect.  This is just a fun black tea, ready-to-drink, beverage that is refreshing in the hot summer.  It’s loaded with about 30g of sugar.  With that much sugar, if you’re going to drink a lot of it, exercise is a must.  No wonder I could get a way with drinking sweet iced teas when I was a kid – I never stopped running.  Well, after that bottle, I guess it’s time for a bike ride.

• Visit Lipton

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Rooibos is a regular on the tea circuit. For those of you that are not familiar with Rooibos, it is not tea. Rooibos comes from an herbal plant that grows in the Cederburg Mountains of South Africa. It’s been nicknamed “Red Tea.” Rooibos has managed to make a name for itself due to the quality and health benefits of the product. It’s packed with a naturally delicious sweet and smooth flavor. In addition, Rooibos is naturally decaffeinated. Lipton’s PureLeaf blueberry-pomegranate Rooibos actually had a decent Rooibos flavor to it. From the first sip, I could taste the Rooibos over the very sweet berry flavors. Overall I thought the beverage was a tad too sweet, but the berry flavor was enjoyable. The blend of pomegranate and blueberry made for a very pleasant mix. I drank the beverage ice-cold, and it was very refreshing. Pomegranate and blueberry flavors were a perfect blend for this PureLeaf beverage. I was very happy to see that consumers drinking this beverage are experiencing the flavor of Rooibos.

Visit Lipton

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I’ve always enjoyed citrus flavored teas. Having said that, I thought I’d try Lipton’s PureLeaf white tea – Tangerine flavored. At my local grocery store, the PureLeaf products were two for one dollar. I couldn’t pass up that deal. I don’t drink a lot of Lipton products anymore, but it’s important for me to drink RTD (ready-to-drink) beverages that I know are consumed by the masses. Lipton has the kind of reach that most beverage/tea companies can only dream of; however, most tea companies are distancing themselves from products similar to this. The move has been toward organic ingredients and agave or pure cane sugar for sweetening. Can you really taste the difference? Yes!

Of all the PureLeaf products I have tried, this is my favorite. The white tea and tangerine flavors are favorable complements. This is a very sweet beverage, and it’s loaded with sugar – 32g of sugar. Although this beverage tastes good, it does lack the purity that I’ve grown accustomed to with organic products sweetened with agave and pure cane sugar. In the end, PureLeaf does offer a product that is flavorful and affordable.

• Visit Lipton PureLeaf

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I had to try an unsweetened version of Lipton’s PureLeaf bottled iced tea. My first experience with a PureLeaf product was not completely negative. My biggest problem with most Lipton bottled teas has been the sugar content. Lipton has recognized that there is a market for unsweetened teas. This isn’t a “diet” tea, it’s unsweetened. Now, when I opened the lid on the bottle, I noticed the tea did have a pleasing scent to it. As expected, it had a classic black tea scent. The flavor was slightly mild. I enjoy a “darker” brew; however, the more I drank the tea the more I liked it. The unsweetened black tea was far more refreshing than the sweetened varieties I have tried. The actual tea is said to come from the Lipton Tea Gardens in South America. The bottom line with any tea, including ready to drink teas, is to know what you’re drinking. Read the labels before you buy the tea. If you like sweet teas, don’t buy this tea. If you are looking for a tea product that doesn’t contain the calories, but still provides a source of antioxidants and classic black tea flavoring, try this tea.

Note: I noticed the lid on a bottle of PureLeaf requires an extra twist to fully seal to the bottle. One of the first bottles I tried, I evidently did not twist the lid on tight enough. After sitting for only two days, the tea tasted awful. That said, it was my fault for not sealing the bottle. Don’t let this happen to you, make sure the lids are on tight.

• Visit Lipton’s PureLeaf

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It’s been a while since I’ve tried a Lipton bottled beverage. I thought I’d go ahead and grab a bottle from the local quick-mart. The PureLeaf product line is being marketed as an “All Natural” product. In addition, the bottle states the tea is made with fresh brewed tea. I’ve never been a fan of bottled Lipton teas, but I really wanted to give this product a chance. The first thing I did when I purchased the product was check out the label. This tea contained 32 grams of sugar per bottle – 16 fl oz. That helps take the calorie count to 130 per bottle. As always, Lipton does a fine job with their product presentation. The glass bottle was neatly wrapped with a glowing picture of healthy green tea leaves.

Green tea and honey sounded like an interesting pairing when I was picking which one I wanted to try. The tea does have a very natural green tea flavor. In fact, the green tea scent is very pronounced when you pop the lid on the bottle. According to Lipton’s website, the tea leaves are from The Lipton Tea Estate in Kericho Kenya. The honey does balance the veggie flavor of the green tea. However, the sugary aftertaste is not exactly what I want from a green tea product. Other than the fact that it is packed with sugar, it’s not bad. I’m still not a fan, but this product shows that even a giant like Lipton is being forced to try to appeal to the “label readers” of the tea drinking world.� I will try some of their other flavors.

• Visit Lipton PureLeaf

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If you are a tea lover, and your sweet tooth is dictating your purchases, you might want to try Lipton’s Vanilla Caramel Truffle. This is one of Lipton’s pyramid tea bag varieties. I have to admit, I like to have a dessert-like tea on the shelf to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Lipton does a great job of packaging their pyramid tea selections. They are easily noticeable on the grocery store shelves. The pictures and design on the box do a good job of enticing you to buy the tea. The pyramid tea bag is something out of the norm. Therefore, you don’t feel like you’re drinking the same-old-same-old. Now, the dried tea did not smell as sweet as I anticipated. I thought since the product is said to contain real pieces of caramel, it would have a sweeter scent to it. However, the aroma I was expecting was not released until the product hit the boiling water. Unfortunately, the flavor I was expecting never seemed to release. The tea certainly did not taste bad. It just wasn’t up to my expectations. You may want to give it a try, but I recommend drinking a tea you know you like, and going out for ice cream when you feel the need for something sweet.

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Lipton has really upped its marketing efforts over the last few years. Newly designed products and advertising campaigns have made their products standout above their competition. Their pyramid tea bags have a lot of style with a purpose. In order to keep the loose leaf tea competition in the distance, Lipton created the pyramid bag. The bag is larger, which allows Lipton to use larger tea leaves. The pyramid bags allow the tea leaves to move freely during the steeping process. I was putting off trying the “long-leaf” teas from Lipton because I enjoy true loose leaf tea too much to waste my time with a fancy box and tea bag. Having said that, this tea is pretty good.

I can taste a huge difference in this product compared to the traditional teabag filled with tea fannings and dust (or at least much smaller tea pieces). That said, today I’m drinking Black Pearl from Lipton. The tea itself smells great. Lipton says the tea is from Sri Lanka from the highest-elevated tea estates. I’m a fan of Ceylon loose leaf tea – so I kept an open-mind while trying this tea. I brewed the tea for a few minutes in about 8 ounces of boiling water. The tea had a bright dark liquor with a full body taste. I was really impressed. Recently, I drank a lot of CTC tea that was a pain to steep, and it was often bitter. The Black Pearl was not the slightest bit bitter. I drank the tea without adding sugar or milk. It was so good; I drank about 4 cups the first day. For those of you that do not know how or don’t want to take the time to steep authentic loose leaf tea, this is an excellent choice. If you are making tea from old stale tea bags, throw them away and try the Pyramid bag from Lipton.

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